Healthcare students' e-literacy skills

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Patient Education
• Digital Health

Background:

• Critical healthcare consumption requires patient self-management and active knowledge exchange.
• eHealth literacy is fundamental for developing patient self-management capabilities.
• The World Health Organization emphasizes information and communication technology (ICT) use as a core provider competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the role of eHealth literacy in patient self-management.
• To assess the eHealth literacy of occupational therapy students using the eHEALS survey.
• To understand the complexities in evaluating eHealth literacy among healthcare professionals.

Main Methods:

• Literature review to support the argument for eHealth literacy.
• Administration of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) survey to first-year master's students.
• Analysis of student responses to gauge confidence in appraising and using online health information.

Main Results:

• Students expressed confidence in critically appraising internet health information.
• Students lacked confidence in using appraised information for decision-making without consulting providers.
• A perceived role conflict between healthcare provider and recipient emerged during assessment.

Conclusions:

• eHealth literacy assessment is complex, requiring consideration of multiple assumed roles.
• Students' confidence in appraising information did not fully translate to independent decision-making.
• Further development of eHealth literacy is needed for effective patient self-management and professional practice.